Windows (and Mac OS X?) packagers: GPL is not a EULA nor a clickthrough

[John W. Eaton]

On  7-Mar-2012, Jordi Gutiérrez Hermoso wrote:

| For packagers making installers for Octave, I want to express a
| personal request.
| 
| I know it's common practice to make Windows installers where you press
| next, next, next until the program is installed. If you've made one of
| those for Octave, usually one of the next buttons is about a license,
| at least that is the case with the NSIS installer. If it's possible to
| omit that screen entirely, please do so. If not, please put some bogus
| text in there explaining how the NSIS installer makes it difficult to
| omit this screen but that you don't need to accept the GPL in order to
| use Octave. Please also do similar for the Mac OS X bundle if it works
| in a similar fashion.
| 
| I think it's a small but important thing, to de-condition users that
| software requires agreeing to legalese to be used. The GPL doesn't
| require a clickthrough, because if you don't agree to it, you simply
| have no legal right to the software. Section 9 of GPLv3 already grants
| this right anyway. A EULA takes your rights away; the GPL grants them.
| They're fundamentally different. And please make it easier for users
| to understand this.

It seems to me that the text on that screen should be short and
explain the GPL in simple terms with a link to the GPL or an option to
view it.  It might be a good idea to display this information even if
is not required by the installer script generator software.

Perhaps we should have some guidelines for packagers in the manual?

jwe